Freedive
by No1fan15
Summary: When Yamcha is sent out on a field assignment he expects to see some fish, a little coral, maybe a few eels, the usual. That's what any other marine biologist would find. He finds a merman. Of course.
1. Saved by sushi

Yamcha had planned to be a regular biologist, maybe specialize in wolves as he'd always liked them, but his universities website had other plans. The layout was horrid and half the links didn't work. He had picked the first thing that had text resembling "biology" after a frustrating three hours of clicking. As it turned out he had selected marine biology and he got into the course. Hence, here he was years later getting ready for a free dive off the coast of some small island almost right between China and Japan. The place didn't even have a proper name it was so tiny. He slipped between the waves and had a look around. His assignment was not only to check on the population levels of certain species but to also keep an eye out for a creature Japanese locals had nicknamed " Ningyo", a mermaid.

 _"Pretty sure I got my degree in marine biology, not marine crypto-biology."_ Yamcha thought to himself as he swam past a school of fish. He didn't believe in such things. Sure he enjoyed hearing the myths and seeing the culture surrounding such beings but he didn't put much faith in the supposed facts of their existence. He went up for a few gasps of air and then dived back down. He headed a little deeper into the water and did his best to identify the fish he saw. A structure emerging from the seafloor nearby caught his attention. No one had told him about a cave of any sort in the area yet there it was. A rounded tower of stone nearly six feet in height rising up from the sand. There was an obvious hole in the top of it and it piqued Yamcha's curiosity.

In hindsight he should have known better. He didn't have any equipment with him and going down into the hole was severely ill advised. Still some part of him was drawn to it. That hint of recklessness that had garnered him a reputation as a troublemaker back at school. Despite growing out of said reputation the temptation to explore the cave was overwhelming. So he surfaced once more, took several deep breaths, and then swam with earnest towards the opening of the tower. Countless hours of swimming had prepared him well for this moment. It took less time than he thought to reach the entrance. It was wide enough for him to swim down with room to stretch his arms out on either side. Not ideal for a free dive exploration but better than shimmying through any tight spaces. He kept going and quickly lost visibility as the water around him grew darker. There was some kind of light ahead and faint as it may be it gave Yamcha enough motivation to keep going. Soon the tunnel opened up into a large underwater cavern. A quick look at the bottom of it revealed bioluminescent plants and animals nearly twenty feet down. Yamcha made mental notes on the species he could identify and started to turn around to head back up to the surface. Then he saw it.

There were dozens of holes on the ceiling of the cave identical to the one he had come through. His heartbeat picked up and he could feel the pressure building in his lungs. He needed to breathe and fast. He had no idea which tunnel led back to where he had started. If he picked one at random there was no telling how long it could be or if it was a dead end. When he entered the cave he had drifted for a bit and it had thrown off his sense of direction. His muscles were starting to burn and his vision was fading. He was panicking. This was it. This was the end. His mind raced as he felt his body grow heavy. What would happen to his cat with him dead? He'd never get the chance to talk things out with his ex girlfriend. Would anyone even know he was gone? Would they care? He couldn't stop his mouth from opening and all the air he had left turned to bubbles. He summoned the last of his strength and sucked in as much water as he could. If he was going to drown then it was going to be on his own terms and quick. This small comfort helped him relax as he closed his eyes for what he was sure to be the last time.

He was therefore understandably surprised when he coughed himself back into consciousness. It took several seconds for him to catch his breath and while he did so he could hear someone talking to him.

"Well, that's one more dumbass back in the world of the living. What the hell were you thinking, coming down here?"

Yamcha rubbed some water out of his eyes and tried to take in his surroundings. He was lying on a stone ledge of some kind. It was obviously situated within an air pocket as a good three feet above him was clear of liquid. He carefully pushed himself up onto his elbows and barely avoided smacking his head on the ceiling. He scanned the area and saw that every so often on the rock face there was a tiny indent carved into it. Sitting inside of them were small objects ranging from seashells to children's toys. His gaze stopped as soon as he identified the source of the voice. They looked at first like a regular human. Then you would notice the third eye and shark like teeth followed by gills lining the neck and chest. Parts of its skin were covered by scales of black, yellow and red. This thing, no doubt what had saved his life, was a merman.

"Is that how you greet all your guests?" Yamcha hadn't meant to say it, initially planning something along the lines of "You're a merman" or "Holy shit", but none the less his statement got a reaction out of the creature. He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head slightly to the side.

"That's the first thing you have to say? I have to admit, I haven't gotten that one yet." said the merman. "Usually it's screaming."

"I'm still not a hundred percent sure I'm not dead, okay? Gimme a minute." Yamcha said.

"I suppose that's a valid point. Very well. You have a minute." the merman said before diving into the water and out of sight. Yamcha became acutely aware of how heavy he was breathing as the now quiet air settled around him. He tried to calm himself down.

"Okay. That was a merman. I nearly drowned but he saved me. I got rescued by an actual merman. That's a thing now." Yamcha rambled under his breath as he tried to take it all in. After pinching his arm and wincing he determined he was definitely alive. That meant that the merman was real. Which opened up a whole other can of worms, no fishing pun intended. He didn't have anymore time to dwell on the topic as the merman in question returned.

"That's a minute." he said. "So, are you dead or not?"

"I'm alive. I'm guessing that's thanks to you." Yamcha said. The merman shrugged.

"I didn't need a corpse floating around my home." he said curtly.

"Gee, thanks for your concern." Yamcha said sarcastically. This merman was a tad on the sassy side, it seemed. Yamcha adjusted his position to be laying on his side with one arm keeping his head off the ground. "Then again I'm sure you do this sort of thing all the time."

"Most people aren't stupid enough to swim into mysterious caves by themselves with no way to breathe so no. I don't." the merman said. He rolled his eyes, including the third one which threw Yamcha way off for a moment, and crossed his arms. "What kind of death wish instinct possessed you to do that?"

"I dunno. Old habit, maybe. Perhaps fate." Yamcha said. The merman raised an eyebrow, an odd thing for a fish person to have now that Yamcha thought about it, and swam a little closer.

"... fate?"

"Of course! Haven't you heard the tales? In every story where a mermaid rescues a handsome man they're fated to fall in love." Yamcha said dramatically. One one hand he was acting rather bold given his situation but on the other he was finding it rather easy to banter with this merman. Yamcha discovered it was just as easy to fluster the poor thing as he noticed a blush slowing rising on the creatures face.

"Did you skip over the tragic ends? I may be planning to kill you." the merman said in an attempt to defend himself.

"You said you didn't want a corpse in your home so I doubt it." Yamcha reminded him. The merman huffed and looked away. Yamcha couldn't help but laugh. After everything that had just happened to him it was surreal to think he was currently embarrassing a mythical creature with insinuations of romance.

"If you're done with your... flirting... I think it's time for you to leave." said the merman.

"Awww, I was just getting started." Yamcha whined. For some reason getting a rise out of this merman was the only thing he could focus his mind on. It was better than pondering the implications a live merman had on the world as a whole as well as his current situation. "Besides, I haven't even learned your name yet."

"You didn't tell me yours and you don't see me caring about it." said the merman.

"Well, we're going to have to fix that then." Yamcha said. "I'm sure even mermen are taught some proper manners. My name is Yamcha and I'd like to formally thank you for saving me from drowning."

"I am Tenshinhan and I'd like for you to get out of my home." the merman snapped back.

"Tenshinhan? That's way too long. How about... Tien?" Yamcha suggested.

"I don't care what you call me as long as you leave." said the merman. Yamcha smirked.

"Tien it is then. So Tien... "

"I literally JUST told you to go away."

"How exactly do you expect me to do that?" Yamcha asked. "As we both know firsthand I can't breathe underwater."

"There is a way to get you to the surface but now I think I'd rather drown you and throw your body on a beach somewhere." Tien growled.

"I thought, without a doubt, that I was going to die like five minutes ago. I accepted it then and I'll accept it now. Your threats mean nothing." Yamcha said. Tien pouted for a moment but then paused.

"... you'll accept it now?" he repeated. "Are you implying that you don't care about living?"

"Well, now that you say it back to me I guess so." Yamcha admitted. "The only person who gave a shit about me back home was my cat. Sure I'd like to see them again and stay with them but it's not like they can't survive without me. My roommate was looking after them while I was gone. They'll be fine."

"... what about family?" Tien asked.

"Don't have one anymore."

"Friends?"

"Barely any and I can tell they don't care."

"A lover? Lovers?"

"I have an ex girlfriend who hates my guts if that counts."

"... now I feel like drowning you would be doing you a favor." Tien concluded with a scowl.

"I'm not going to argue with that. Still, if it's an option I'd like to continue living for the time being. Gotta be there for my cat, right?" Yamcha said. He decided to try and change the topic. Things had gotten much too personal way too fast. "So. Me, the surface, out of your cave sweet cave. How do we do that?"

"It's, uh... well..." Tien trailed off as his blush returned. He firmly looked to a corner and away from Yamcha. As for Yamcha he was staring to feel anxious. For all his flirting earlier he didn't feel any particular way towards this merman besides slight disbelief and intrigue. Tien was obviously nervous and Yamcha didn't think that was a good sign. He tried to lighten the mood.

"What, is it like the kiss of life or something?" he said with a half hearted chuckle. Tien blushed darker. Definitely not a good sign.

"... I guess you could call it that." Tien continued. "It does require mouth to mouth contact to work... but it's the only way to get you out of here alive so hurry up."

"Right now?" Yamcha said weakly. The scientist part of his brain was in overdrive. He still had to study this creature. No one had ever met a merperson before. There was so much to learn. Another part of him was balking at the idea of actually putting his mouth on a merman. Yet another was telling him that it wouldn't be that bad.

"Yes, now! Get in." Tien grumbled. He moved back so Yamcha would have space to move off the ledge.

"So, please, indulge me for a moment..." Yamcha said as he eased his way into the water, "And explain how this works. How exactly am I living through this?"

"Simple. When you need to breathe just tap my shoulder and release the air you were holding. Then I'll use my gills to create enough extra air that I can give it to you. You breathe it in, hold your breath again, swim a while then repeat." Tien said. Yamcha paused with one hand still on the ledge.

"That makes no scientific sense whatsoever. You're sure I won't drown?" he asked.

"I've done this before. I know what I'm doing." Tien said.

"You have?" Yamcha said.

"It was to save a kid, alright? I'm not heartless." Tien mumbled while looking to the side. Yamcha couldn't hold back a small smile. This merman was full of surprises.

"Before we go dragging me to dry land..." Yamcha said. "How about we practice a little? I don't want to panic halfway there and drown."

"Alright. That's a good point." Tien agreed. He swam in close and placed one hand on Yamcha's shoulder. "Grab onto me. If you mess up I'll save you, again."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Yamcha said. He put his hand on the back of Tien's neck, being sure not to hit his gills, and gave him what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Good thing I'm a fast learner."

"For both our sakes you'd better be." Tien said. "We'll go under on three. Okay?"

"Got it." Yamcha said with a nod. He took a deep breath and tried to prepare himself.

"One... two... three!"

With that Tien let his weight pull them both underwater. Yamcha held his breath for as long as he could. When his chest burned and his head got dizzy he let all the air go in a rush of bubbles. Right as the last one cleared his face there was a pair of lips on his. Instinctively he inhaled and got a rush of oxygen. It had worked. At least up until the point when Yamcha forgot to hold the breath he got. Before he could freak out he found himself above the waters surface and gasping.

"You're aware you were supposed to close your mouth, right?" Tien asked. He had a hint of sarcasm slipping into his words again. Yamcha caught his breath and glared at him.

"I know, it's kind of obvious, I just... I wasn't ready." he said. He was more frustrated with himself than anything and knew the merman wasn't to blame. He tried to change the topic. "I'm going to guess you've never properly kissed anyone before, have you?"

"That has nothing to do with this." Tien objected but Yamcha only doubled down.

"It's fine for air transfer but it's awkward and threw me off enough that I messed up. We don't want that later, do we?" he said.

"Like I said, it doesn't make a difference." Tien insisted.

"So... does that mean you don't want to learn to kiss someone?" Yamcha said.

"No, I mean, not now, and it's not important to what we're doing, it's not that I don't want to kiss anyone, like, ever, but..." Tien rambled. He was starting to turn red again and trailed off as he caught onto the meaning in Yamcha's statement. He raised his eyes up enough to look at the human facing him and said weakly; "... learn?"

"I doubt you'll get another chance." Yamcha said. Internally he was screaming at himself. Before today he wasn't even sure if he liked guys and now he was offering to teach a merman how to kiss? Then again after everything else that day it wasn't that big of a deal. He did want to get out of there alive after all. "So, if you're okay with it then I think it'd be a good idea."

"Uh... I guess?" Tien said nervously. He slowly pulled himself closer to Yamcha. "Okay... now what?"

"You relax for starters. I'd rather not have a bruise on my arm later." Yamcha said. Maybe it was a way to stall for time but he had a point. Tien lightened his grip on Yamcha's shoulder and gently placed his free hand on the other side.

"Sorry. It's, uh, supposed to be like this, right?" he said. Yamcha grinned and put his arms around the merman's neck. This closed the distance far enough that he could see the shine of gold in the freckles that were dotted across Tien's face.

"More like this but you've got the idea." Yamcha said smugly. This was easier. Keep up the banter from before as much as possible to distract from the situation at hand. Tien, meanwhile, was a bright red at this point. He lowered his arms and gingerly put them around Yamcha's waist.

"Better?" he asked shyly. Yamcha leaned in a little more and prayed his confident facade would hold.

"Better." he admitted, his voice almost a purr. "I hope you at least know to close your eyes during a kiss."

"... I do now." Tien mumbled. Yamcha nearly started laughing. This poor embarrassed merman was starting to win him over. Before he could let himself dwell any further on the idea Yamcha raised one of his hands to hold the back of Tien's head.

"Relax. It's easy to get the hang of. Just let me take the lead." he said.

"It's all yours." Tien replied. He closed his eyes preemptively and Yamcha took a moment to collect himself.

The glow from the creatures on the cave floor reflected upwards into their cavern casting a pale blue light over everything. It made the merman before him look almost peaceful. He couldn't deny that Tien was a beautiful creature. Alas it seemed he had to put his mouth where his thoughts were as he leaned in to press a soft kiss to Tien's lips. It wasn't a very long kiss but it was enough steal the mermans breath away. When Yamcha pulled away it was a few seconds before Tien opened his eyes again.

"Oh." Tien said. He seemed to be at a loss for words. Yamcha smiled and raised a hand to run lightly across Tien's scales as if they were hair.

"See? Easy." he said. Tien nodded and Yamcha was tempted to laugh again. He held back his giggles and leaned back in towards him. "Well? How was it?"

"I, uh... wow." Tien said. "I'm not sure what to say. I've... never done anything like it."

"I can tell. Not that it's a bad thing." Yamcha said. "Then again, practice does makes perfect."

"Well then, I suppose we should... practice some more... before leaving." Tien said slowly. He was so awkward and sheepish that Yamcha couldn't help but find it endearing.

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Yamcha said before closing his eyes and moving in again. The second kiss was a little longer than the first but not very different. Yamcha was still the one in control. The third he cut short on purpose and grinned when Tien leaned foreward to try and make it last longer. On the fourth kiss Tien finally figured out how to return the motion properly. He was the one to initiate the fifth.

"Was that alright?" he asked anxiously once they parted again.

"It was a lot better than I expected. Looks like we're both fast learners." Yamcha said. Tien looked relieved and relaxed his rather tense muscles.

"You're a good teacher." he said quietly. Yamcha felt his own blush return. The impact of the merman's voice hadn't hit him before but now, when they were face to face and holding one another close, the lowness of it made him shiver.

"Does that mean we're ready to go?" Yamcha asked. He hoped the red in his cheeks wasn't as visible as it felt.

"Yeah, guess so." Tien said. "Let's get you back to land."

"About time I got out of your home, right?" Yamcha said with a small smile. Tien looked away from him and let his arms drop.

"Yup. Out you go." he said with only a hint of his earlier sarcasm. Yamcha released his hold on the merman's neck and took a final look around the cave. Then he took a deep breath and dove underwater.

He was soon joined by Tien and together the two swam out into the main cavern. Yamcha stopped as he felt his air running out and released the rest of it to bubble around him. Tien swam up and gave him a fresh breath. After lingering on the contact perhaps a bit too long they continued. Tien seemed to know what tunnel Yamcha had entered from and Yamcha trusted him to lead the way. A few more shared breaths later, including a rather awkward one where they were pressed close together in a narrow passageway, they exited the cave system and hit open water. The area was starting to look familiar to Yamcha and it only took a few more minutes for the two of them to surface. Yamcha gasped out of instinct when his head cleared the water. It was immediately obvious that he had been in Tien's cave longer than he thought. A grand sunset lit up the sky and turned the water orange.

"There. I'm sure you know your way from here." Tien said.

"Yeah, I do, thanks." Yamcha said. "... how did you know which tunnel I came from?"

"It's the smell. That one had your scent all over it." Tien said. Yamcha raised an eyebrow.

"... I have a scent?" he asked, part unsettled and part interested. Tien shrugged.

"Everyone does when they're in the water. At least to merpeople." he explained. "It helps us find food and recognize others nearby."

"So... what's my scent?" Yamcha asked.

"Wet dog." Tien said. He smirked at the dissapointed look on Yamcha's face. "I'm joking."

"And I'm flattered." Yamcha grumbled. "Seriously, what is it?"

"I'm not sure yet. I haven't been around you long enough." Tien shrugged of the question. He looked away but when he spoke again there was a hint of longing in his voice. "You'd have to stay longer."

"Well... I'm still in this area for about a week before I head back home." Yamcha said. "And I haven't finished my notes on this area yet."

"You're here to take notes?" Tien said with a small laugh. "That's quite the thing to risk your life over."

"I'm a marine biologist. It's my job." Yamcha said. He smiled wolfishly at the merman. "Plus, I think I just found the perfect specimen to research. How about I come back here tommorow?"

"Only if you promise to never call me a "specimen" again."

"Deal." Yamcha said. He reached out for a handshake with a smile. "I'll see you then, koi boy."

"Can't wait for it, land mutt." Tien said. He returned the handshake with a smirk, revealing that his initial sarcasm hadn't gone away completely. Yamcha felt a surge of courage he hadn't had since he first asked out his ex. He leaned towards Tien and planted a playful kiss on the tip of his nose.

"It's a date." he teased before swiftly swimming his way to shore, all the while asking himself why he'd do something like that.

When he arrived on the beach a quick look behind him showed that Tien had gone back below the waves. Yamcha waved his way all the same after gathering his things and starting to walk towards the boat he'd arrived in. It was probably just a sunbeam bouncing off the sea but he liked to think that he saw a black, red and yellow spotted tail waving back at him.


	2. Big Mouth Dumb-Bass

"Hey, it's me, I wanted to talk to you about something... no, that's too forward. She might think I'm trying to get her back."

Yamcha paced back and forth in his hotel room as he tried to prepare a conversation to have with his ex. He had already wanted to still be friends with Bulma after their break up but hadn't done anything about it. Then he had nearly died literally that morning. Now he was two hours post meeting a merman and filled with more emotions than he was used to. Feelings about things other than said merman. The sunset had faded a while ago and now all that was left were stars. If he was going to call before she fell asleep he'd have to do it soon. He sighed and sat on the bed. There was no point in stalling any longer. With a hint of reluctance he grabbed his phone and dialed Bulma's number. It only took a couple of rings before she picked up.

"Yamcha what the _fuck?!"_

"I see you kept my contact... uh, how are you?" Yamcha said with a wince.

"Really? You're asking me how I am NOW? You haven't contacted me in over a year!" Bulma yelled over the phone. "So what the hell?"

"Well, I..." Yamcha started weakly. Then he sighed and decided to drop the casual pretense. If he didn't speed things up she might hang up on him. "Look Bulma, I know, it's been a long time. We both have our own lives now and I'm not trying to get into yours again."

"Then why did you call?" Bulma asked. It sounded like she had calmed down slightly.

"Something happened today and it made me think... I don't want us to be mad at each other forever. If you don't want to be friends again that's okay. I just didn't want something to happen and the last thing we said to each other be from some fight we had." Yamcha explained.

"... I wouldn't want that either. You're a good guy, Yams. Not the right guy for me but it's not like you're a total asshole." Bulma said softly. Yamcha smiled even though he knew she couldn't see it.

"Thanks, Bulms. That's a lot off my mind." he said.

"If I may ask... what happened? That caused this?" Bulma said.

"Well... you know how I'm a marine biologist now?" Yamcha said. "I got assigned to a project in Japan. Runs 'till the end of the week."

"Sounds fancy." Bulma remarked. "Doesn't explain anything though."

"I'm getting to that. I was on a free dive this morning and I saw a cave." Yamcha continued. "I swam down to it, but..."

"But what?" Bulma asked.

"I misjudged how far away it was. When I got inside the cave I... ran out of air." Yamcha said sheepishly. "Long story short, I think a near death experience is reason enough to want to make amends, right?"

"You drowned?!" Bulma exclaimed.

"Not quite. I mean, I'm alive aren't I?" Yamcha said. He tried to laugh it off. "Not that big of a deal after all, am I right?"

"Yamcha... are you okay?" Bulma said quietly. Yamcha took a moment to think. He was decidedly not okay. Evey time he thought about it his throat tightened and his mouth got dry. He'd had close calls before but none that close. He hadn't thought about it much. Which made sense considering his discovery of a Merman right after it happened.

"... I'll be fine." Yamcha said eventually.

"If you say so." Bulma said. "I take it you got saved by some gorgeous local princess?"

"You'd think but no." Yamcha said with a laugh. "Nah, I got rescued by a local who was out swimming at the same time."

"Lovely lady?" Bulma inquired. Yamcha laughed again.

"I don't think you'd want to call him one." he said. "He's nearly as built as Goku."

"Impressive." Bulma said with a whistle. "Did you get the kiss of life anyways?"

"It's not like there were many options besides CPR, are there?" Yamcha said. "It worked but I'd say he still has a while to go before he's kissing anyone with confidence."

"You meanie." Bulma teased. "Wait - how would you remember what his kissing skills were like? Weren't you unconscious?"

"Uh-" Yamcha cut himself off before he could say anything else. He didn't think Bulma would pick up on that. He tried to change the topic. "So, how are things on your end?"

"Don't you dare ignore me on this, Yamcha. What happened?" Bulma demanded. It was easy to pick up on the excitement in her voice. "Did he kiss you? A kiss that wasn't for medical reasons?"

"... yeah." Yamcha admitted reluctantly. He buried his face in a pillow as Bulma giggled.

"Oh my god! Did you kiss him back?" Bulma asked joyously.

"That's not important." Yamcha grumbled.

"You totally did! Holy shit!" Bulma said. "What's his name? What's he like? Are you gonna see him again?"

"It's Tenshinhan. What he's like is none of your business and ditto on the last point." Yamcha replied. He could almost hear Bulma pouting over the phone.

"Come on! You owe me!"

"Why do I owe you?"

"Because I picked up the phone." Bulma said. Yamcha knew it was pointless trying to argue with her.

"That's not a valid reason but fine, I'll tell you because we're friends." he said.

"That's right, secret sharing is what friends do." Bulma said triumphantly. "Now spill."

"He's a nice guy. Kind of a dick at first but he's easy to talk to. About as easy to tease." Yamcha said, remembering how little it took to fluster the merman. "He gets embarrassed fast."

"Sounds adorable. Even with all those muscles you mentioned." Bulma said. "What's the status on future meetings?"

"I'm gonna hang out with him tomorrow. He knows the waters around here better than me. He can help with my research." Yamcha said.

"Look at you go. You've been there for how long, like a day, and you've already got yourself a boyfriend?" Bulma said.

"It's been two days since I got here and boyfriend is a strong word." Yamcha said. Bulma scoffed.

"He saved your life and kissed you, and you're spending more time with him? He's your boyfriend, Yams." Bulma said. "You HAVE to send me a picture."

"I'll, uh, ask him about it." Yamcha said while envisioning his scaled friend. "He's kinda self conscious."

"At least try for me, okay?" Bulma said. "I'm so proud of you. Getting out there in the world."

"Thanks Bulma. Talk to you soon?" Yamcha said, hoping to end the conversation before he revealed anything else he shouldn't.

"I don't see why not. You have to update me on that Tenshinhan guy soon though." Bulma said.

"I'll do my best. Bye Bulms." Yamcha said.

"Later, Yams. Have fun." said Bulma. It was easy to imagine her winking on the other end of the phone. She hung up before Yamcha could protest. He tried to relax. That was one call down. He took a minute or so to get ready before punching in the next number. He had a lot more people to make peace with.

The next morning...

"How did you even graduate?"

"Hey, it's not my fault humans don't have the same info merpeople do on fish." Yamcha said. He jabbed an elbow into Tien's side as the merman laughed at him. They were sitting on a rock near the edge of the island together. Tien had taken it upon himself to lecture Yamcha on every species they saw after he mentioned taking notes. It had been nearly an hour and Yamcha already had more facts than he knew what to do with.

"Well, humans should. It's important." Tien pointed out. "You said you work at an aquarium, right? Stuff like this would make life a lot better for the creatures you have there."

"That's true. I'm going to have to talk to the director about tank updates when I get home." Yamcha agreed. "You're definitely helping a lot of fish."

"Glad to hear it." said Tien. He pointed to yet another animal swimming past them. "Speaking of fish, that one's -"

Yamcha tried to pay attention but he found himself distracted. The sun reflected and sparkled not only off the water but also off Tien's scales. It caught his attention and kept. The gentle look in the mermans eyes as he enthusiastically talked about marine life wasn't helping either. It was endearing in a way Yamcha hadn't expected. He vaguely heard what Tien was saying about the fish he was gesturing to but his mind was wandering. Part of him wondered just how Tien's gills functioned as they fluttered in the breeze. Another part was focused solely on how he could kiss Tien without it being too awkward. He shook his head gently as he realized what he was thinking. Just how far was he gone for this merman?

"Are you okay?" Tien asked. "You haven't been writing anything down."

"Y'know, I think I'm good on notes for today." Yamcha said. "Any more and you'd have nothing left to teach me tomorrow."

"There's always things to learn about." Tien said. "Especially for you."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Yamcha said. "What about you? Shouldn't you be asking me about human stuff?"

"I know enough." Tien said with a shrug.

"Hypocrite." Yamcha said. He felt his phone buzz and checked it. There was a text from Bulma on screen.

 _So, how's your date going? ;)c_

He rolled his eyes and typed a quick response.

 _-He's been talking about fish for an hour. A true romantic._

He put his phone away and noticed Tien staring at him. "What's up?"

"That's a cellphone, right?" Tien said.

"Technically it's a smartphone but you're right." Yamcha confirmed. "I take it you've never seen one before?"

"Only heard about them. They don't work so well underwater." Tien said.

"So you just shout really loud towards who you want to talk to instead?" Yamcha said.

"Very funny." Tien said. "Merpeople don't speak to each other much."

"That explains a lot about you." Yamcha teased. Tien splashed some water at him with his tail. Yamcha laughed and shielded his face with his arm.

"And just how often do you talk to other humans?" Tien said.

"As a matter of fact," Yamcha said smugly as his phone buzzed again, "I'm going to talk to one right now."

 _Remember you promised me that picture, lover boy_

 _-I promised to try. I haven't even asked him yet._

 _Well get to it then! It won't happen if you don't say anything._

 _-I'm well aware. Let me enjoy my fish lecture._

 _:P_

"...Who are you talking to?" Tien asked. He was leaning in towards Yamcha's shoulder to look at the screen.

"A friend." Yamcha said.

"You said yesterday that you didn't have any that cared." Tien said.

"Yeah, after I got back on dry land I called a few of them and talked things out." Yamcha explained. "Therefore I have friends now."

"That's good to hear." Tien said. "What's that one saying?"

"She, uh..." Yamcha stalled as he tried to come up with a way to explain Bulma's messages. Tien leaned in closer and squinted at the screen.

"A picture? What are they talking about?" he asked.

"You...uh... you can read?" Yamcha said sheepishly.

"Three languages." Tien stated.

"Oh. That's neat." Yamcha said. He wasn't sure if his own measly grasp on Japanese qualified as speaking the language.

"So, what does your friend mean by asking for a picture?" Tien continued.

"I may have accidentally mentioned our kiss when I was talking to her last night... and now she thinks you're my boyfriend... and wants to see a picture of you." Yamcha said nervously. He started to feel a little panicked when Tien didn't respond. "Don't worry, I told her you were self conscious so there's no need to-"

"Okay."

"Huh?"

"I said it's okay." Tien clarified. Yamcha watched dumbfounded as Tien shut his eyes and took a deep breath. There was a brief flash of light that could have been mistaken for a reflection off the waves and Tien opened his eyes again. Two of them. All he had. From the waist up he looked identical to a human. Yamcha almost didn't believe it.

"That's a... thing you can do?" he said weakly.

"Comes with the third eye." Tien said with a smile. "It's an illusion that doesn't last too long but it's enough to trick anyone who spots me for a while. Helps if I'm seen while I'm out hunting."

"I see..." Yamcha said slowly. He'd have to ask about that more later. For the moment he got his phone camera ready and held it up. "Smile!"

Tien did so and Yamcha sent the picture to Bulma along with a "There you go, now stop asking."

"I didn't know your third eye could do stuff like that." Yamcha said.

"That's about all it can do besides making things easier to see." Tien said. He let the illusion drop and smiled with once again sharp teeth. "Food doesn't know what hit it."

"I can imagine." Yamcha said. Tien laughed quietly and Yamcha felt something in his chest warm. Before he knew it he'd snapped another picture of Tien without him noticing.

"Speaking of food it's almost lunch time." Yamcha said. He stood and tucked his phone away again. "And as much as I love sushi I'd rather eat back in town."

"Will you be back later?" Tien asked. Yamcha recognized the small blush on the merman's face and grinned.

"Sure. You can tell me more about fish." he said. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss just above Tien's third eye. "See you then."

"Agreed." Tien said stiffly. He was a solid red by now and made a point to splash Yamcha again as he dove into the water. Yamcha laughed and waved as he made his way to his boat. On his way back to shore he got a reply from Bulma.

 _OMG_

 _Yamcha, holy shit_

 _You lucky bastard_

 _He's beautiful!_

Yamcha chuckled and responded.

 _\- I know._

When he got back to land and had sat down for lunch Bulma had sent no less than ten similar messages. He scrolled through them with a sigh. He was never going to hear the end of this. When he sent his last response he noticed the second picture he had taken in his gallery. The one of Tien just being himself. Yamcha smiled and almost without thinking made it his homescreen. Then he put his head in his hands. He was in way too deep. He was also feeling way too conflicted. He had to report this. Merpeople existing was a major scientific discovery. He needed to tell the world... didn't he? On the other hand he didn't want to betray Tien's trust. If merpeople wanted humans to know about them they would have done something about it. He couldn't just turn around and spill their secret after what he'd been through. Especially after what Tien did for him. There was also the added factor of his now clear crush on the merman in question. Yamcha decided to deal with all of that another day and got back to eating. He had another fish lecture to get to, after all.


	3. A lesson in Mer-manity

For a week that started with discovering the existence of merpeople the rest of Yamcha's trip was of a caliber someone else may have called "underwhelming". He knew better. Sure, the rest of his trip wasn't filled with more world shaking discoveries but just being with the one be had was enough.

Over the past few days he'd learned more than he ever could have hoped for from Tien. Specifically about fish and the area they inhabited. He had gathered bits and pieces of facts about merpeople over his many conversations with Tien but he was still filled with curiosity. So, on his last day in Japan he figured he should go big before he went home.

"I think you've told me enough about the Izu catshark to fill a textbook." Yamcha said as Tien brought up the animal yet again. They were sitting at their now usual spot on the rocky shore off the island.

"Really?" Tien said. "How deep do they swim?"

"A hundred meters and they're forty to forty five centimeters long. I'm well aware." Yamcha said. "I thought by now you'd run out of species to talk about."

"You won't get far in the marine biology world thinking that way." Tien teased. "Here I thought you were a fast learner."

"I could probably list at least twenty species native to Japan with more accuracy then half the people in my field thanks to you. I'd call that fast learning." Yamcha pointed out. "Then again... there is one big species you haven't told me anything about."

"And what would that be?" Tien asked. Yamcha flipped his notepad to a rather scarce page and showed it to Tien.

"Your species. I barely know anything about merpeople despite everything that's gone down since I met you." Yamcha said. "Namely, almost a week of contact."

"..."

"Aw, c'mon Tien." Yamcha whined as the merman stayed silent. He put his notepad down and pouted. "Why are you so tight lipped about this?"

"Listen. The Mer are... secretive. We don't like to interact with humans. Even though you know we exist... that doesn't mean I can speak on behalf of my entire species." Tien said quietly. "It's like... if I asked you to tell me everything about how the human world works. I'm sure there's some humans who wouldn't want me hearing your answer."

"... I suppose you have a point." Yamcha said. "Still... I can't be the first human who's asked."

"You're not." Tien admitted. He stared down at the water and absentmindedly waved his tail back and forth. "There's one other human who's seen me. Who knows me."

"Then you can tell me what you told them, right?" Yamcha asked hopefully. Tien laughed softly.

"You mean tell you about what merpeople toys are like? Our families? What games we like to play?" he said.

"... who exactly met you?" Yamcha asked after a moments pause.

"Remember how I said I saved a kid once?" Tien said. Yamcha nodded.

"That makes sense then. Those are all things a child would ask about." he said. "... but why family? Games and toys make sense, but..."

"... the kid I saved... might have been better off if I hadn't done it." Tien said quietly. "He didn't have a family. Then he got adopted by this man... monster is the right word for him. The way he treats him..."

"... I see." Yamcha said. They island was silent for a few moments. Then he spoke up again. "What's his name?"

"... Chiaotzu." Tien said. He smiled sadly. "He's eight years old. Always talks to me when I'm by the docks. Gives me things he makes."

"He sounds like a good kid." Yamcha said. He recalled seeing the children's toys and drawings on the walls of Tien's cavern home. "I take it no adults believe him when he says there's a merman that he talks to?"

"I doubt he's told anyone at all. If he did he wouldn't be allowed near the water anymore." Tien said. He clenched his fists and glared at nothing in particular. "Do you know what he was told when he got adopted?"

"... what?"

"That he was lucky. _Lucky_ to live with that... _vermin_. He told me once "Master Shen says the ugly kids don't get families so I should be happy he picked me." Can you believe that shit? He was only five when that happened. That asshole told a five year old boy he was ugly and lucky to have anyone in his life." Tien ranted. He splashed the water angrily with his tail. All the fish near them scattered.

"... I really wish I could tell you that's rare among humans, but..." Yamcha started to say.

"I know. It's the same with the Mer. Hell, there's one exactly like that beast of a human who runs this territory." Tien said.

"... I can't imagine what that's like." Yamcha said quietly. Tien sighed and leaned back on the rock.

"I'm used to it. It's the guppies I'm worried about." he said.

"... Guppies?" Yamcha said, confused. Tien shook his head.

"Babies. Toddlers. Young ones. The hatchlings." he explained. "No matter what you call them it's the same. They can't defend themselves."

"Does... does no one protect them?" Yamcha said hesitantly.

"Mer don't care for their eggs after they've been laid. It's like how fish treat their young. The infants fend for themselves and the strongest survive." Tien said. "It's how we do things."

"... I think I prefer how humans do things." Yamcha said. Tien barked out a laugh.

"That's why you're not a Mer." he said. "Too soft."

"I'm not soft." Yamcha protested.

"Please. If you were any softer you'd be a sea cucumber." Tien scoffed.

"Do soft people do this?" Yamcha countered. He leaned in and quickly kissed Tien's cheek. He resisted the urge to cringe at the salt water taste and tried to look smug. Tien recovered from his surprise and grinned in a way that contrasted his blush.

"That's the softest way you could have put it." he said. Before Yamcha could retort Tien pulled him into a fairly passionate embrace. After a second or two Yamcha returned it. Tien was being much more confident with his kisses than before.

"I'm glad to see you took my lessons seriously." Yamcha said after a particularly strong kiss.

"I had a good teacher." Tien mumbled. He trailed his fingers along the back of Yamcha's neck with a slowness that made the human shiver.

"I wish I could have taught you sooner." Yamcha said.

"Right. You're leaving today, aren't you?" Tien said.

"Yeah. Speaking of, I need to get back to shore soon or I'll miss my flight." Yamcha said. He pulled back with a sad sigh.

"You're sure you can't stay a little longer?" Tien asked. Yamcha gave him a bittersweet smile and a quick kiss on his forehead.

"Wish I could." he said. "But hey, if you ever feel like taking a really long swim then you can find yourself a nap and make your way over to West Bay."

"I'll keep that in mind." Tien said. He smiled and slipped into the water. "See you later, land mutt."

"Catch you some other time, koi boy." Yamcha replied as he stood up. With one last wave he climbed into his boat and started on his way back to shore. A quick flip of Tien's tail above the waves substituted for a wave of his own. Yamcha let a small smile rise on his face and kept in all the way through to his flight home.

Maybe he'd see Tien again someday. It wasn't very likely but as he drifted off to sleep above the clouds he let his mind drift to memories of swimming effortlessly alongside the merman.


	4. Go with the flow

Yamcha's life was boring.

Sure, the aquarium always had an issue to be fixed or some unexpected event happening but after his trip to Japan...

Yamcha sighed and went back to cleaning one of the research tanks. He figured anything would seem dull after the discovery of Merpeople and being surrounded by water wasn't helping. He kept expecting to see Tien swim past him, with a sassy remark to spare. Even after months of being back at work the feeling hadn't gone away. He'd thought the routine of being home again would make him forget about Tien. He was having no such luck. He hadn't even tried to go on any dates since his return. Like it or not he'd left his heart in Japan with a scaled man of the sea. Of course. He could never catch a break with romance.

"Think that's clean yet?"

Yamcha stood and stretched before replying to his co worker.

"I'd hope so. I didn't have anything else to do before the meeting." he said. Krillin nodded and leaned against the tank.

"I hear ya. Whenever we actually have time to spare this place works perfectly but as soon as we get busy..."

"Something goes wrong. Every time." Yamcha finished. Krillin laughed and Yamcha joined in. At least he had his friends to keep things somewhat interesting.

"Exactly. Speaking of things going wrong, did you hear about what happened at the water park today?" Krillin said.

"Didn't one of the slides break?" Yamcha said. He vaguely recalled hearing something about the topic over his walkie talkie earlier that day.

"Snapped right in the middle. Piccolo had to catch the last kid going down it." Krillin said. "I don't even wanna know what the press is gonna say about this."

"Can't be worse than that spill last month." Yamcha said.

"You have a point. One of the reporters claims she still smells like shrimp." Krillin grumbled.

"We probably smell more than her." Yamcha said. "On that note we should get cleaned up before that meeting starts."

"Another good point. Especially with Lazuli there." Krillin said.

"Your wife works here. She already smells like fish." Yamcha said.

"She smells like a very nice fish." Krillin countered as he walked off.

The meeting itself was about as lifeless as the day preceding it. Talk of finances and exhibits droned on for an hour or so. The only thing that vaugley caught Yamcha's attention was the announcment of the staff party. It had been in planning for a few months and was the most exciting thing to happen since his return.

"Will there be food?" asked one worker eagerly. Lazuli sighed and set down her papers.

"Yes, Goku, there will be food." she said. "Just remember you're on dish washing duty."

"Yes ma'am!" Goku said happily. Lazuli rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Everyone else knows their assignments. I'll see you all tomorrow." she said. The rest of the staff said their goodbyes and began to head out.

"See you later Yamcha!" Krillin said with a wave. Yamcha returned the gesture. Goku walked up to him and gave him a quick hug.

"Have a good night!" he said with a grin as he left.

"You too, Goku." Yamcha said.

"He's acting friendly."

Yamcha jumped slightly as he noticed Lapis standing beside him.

"Goku's usually like that." he said. Lapis shrugged. He was Lazuli's brother and one of the vets on call for the aquarium. The family resemblance was uncanny.

"I'm not usually here enough to notice." Lapis said. "By the way, Azure asked me to let you know that he's got the rest of Puar's meds ready for you to pickup on the weekend."

"Oh, okay. Tell him I'll see him then." Yamcha said. Lapis acknowledged him with a nod and left. Yamcha relaxed a bit and started to head out. Lapis always had an odd edge to him, just like his sister, and he didn't work at the aquarium enough for Yamcha to get used to it. He put his bag over his shoulder and left the building.

Another day come and gone. As he made his way to the parking lot Yamcha looked out over the nearby beach with a tired expression. He had a little extra time in his schedule but he really didn't have the energy to go for a swim. As his eyes scanned the horizon he noticed something in the water. A quick flash of color, nearly too fast to see, that felt oddly familiar... Yamcha blinked a few times and stepped closer to the beach walkway. The flash came again and this time he caught the sight of red, black, and yellow shining under the sunset. He started walking towards the water and quickly broke into a run. The next time the flash came he could make out the fins on the end of it. He landed on the sand in a sprint and haphazardly tossed off his bag. His shoes and socks went next and he let his jacket fall next to them. The ocean slowed him down a bit but he pressed forwards, hardly daring to believe what he'd seen. Once the water reached his chest the tail surfaced again. There was no mistaking it now and right after it entered the waves once more a familiar smile emerged in its place.

"Miss me, land mutt?"

Yamcha laughed and nearly fell into the ocean as he embraced the merman in front of him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he gasped as he tried to stand up without letting go.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Tien asked. Yamcha pulled back from the hug and laughed again.

"Of course I am, you bastard." he said. "But... how? Why?"

"It's a long story." Tien said. "But to make it short I got my hands on a map and swam one hell of a trip to get over here."

"How long have you been here?" Yamcha asked.

"Only a day or so. I'm glad you noticed me when you did." Tien said.

"How could I not notice you?" Yamcha said. He smiled and gave Tien a quick kiss. "You're pretty hard to forget."

"I could say the same for you." Tien said. "Who else smells like wet dog?"

"Come on! You said that wasn't true." Yamcha said.

"I did. Now that I've been around you longer though..." Tien said, pretending to look thoughtful. Yamcha released him from the hug and tried to give him a punch on the shoulder. Tien swam away before he could make contact and laughed. Yamcha clumsily started wading his way back to shore.

"Well, it was nice seeing you. Bye, koi boy." he said dramatically. Tien swam ahead of him with ease and surfaced with a smirk.

"I didn't travel for months just for you to leave. Get down here." he said. Yamcha continued walking into the shallower water.

"Nope. You had your chance." Yamcha said. "Now I'll never swim again."

He would have continued if Tien hadn't grabbed him by the leg and yanked him underwater. After a few seconds Yamcha came up sputtering and scowled at the grinning merman. He dropped his angry facade as soon as Tien leaned in for a proper kiss. It had been way too long. Thankfully it felt like Tien had remembered his lessons. Even months out of practice his kissing was leagues better then when they had first met. Once they parted Tien gently moved some of Yamcha's hair out of his face.

"Even if you never swim I'll still pull you in with me." he said. Yamcha smiled and tried to stand up.

"Great, I can't wait to drown." he said.

"I'll be sure to save you." Tien said. He swam as far up as he could into the shallow water. "Wouldn't want your corpse ruining this nice beach."

"So now my dead body is unwelcome at both your cave and this beach? Geez, a man can't die anywhere nowadays." Yamcha said.

"Exactly. You'll just have to keep living." Tien said. Yamcha crouched down and planted a soft kiss just above Tien's third eye.

"I guess so." he mumbled. "Look, I need to get home. Puar gets cranky when I don't feed her on time."

"I'll wait for you here." Tien said as he took Yamcha's hand and kissed it.

"Of course you will, you sap. I though Mer weren't supposed to be soft." Yamcha said with a light blush rising to his cheeks.

"We can be soft when we want to." Tien said. He pushed himself off the sand and into deeper water.

"I'll come early tomorrow. Then you're explaining everything properly." Yamcha called out to him.

"Can't wait." Tien said as he disappeared beneath the waves.

Yamcha picked up his things and started to head towards the aquarium. He sure as hell wasn't about to go home soaking wet. Maybe he could borrow a uniform. It'd be hard to explain his wet clothes if anyone saw him but it was better than the alternative. Luckily none of his co workers saw him slip back in and change. As he stepped out of the building again he pulled out his phone. He dialed and while he was waiting for it to ring he stared at the ocean and smiled.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Bulma? You won't believe who just showed up at the aquarium."


	5. Panic! At the Aquarium

"So lemme get this right. You met a guy in Japan who saved your life. You two dated for almost a week. Then you came back here and this guy decides to spend months getting ready to follow you. Now he's here?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Yamcha said happily. Krillin shook his head and put down his sandwich.

"You really are something else, Yamcha. Here I thought you lost your edge after college and then you have a man come halfway across the world just to be with you? You sly dog." he said with a laugh.

"There's nothing sly about it. Coming here was Tien's choice. It was a surprise to me too." Yamcha said.

"I can't deny that it's a little weird but love makes you do crazy things. Not to mention you look happier then I've seen in years." Krillin said.

"Really?" Yamcha asked.

"Yeah. You never were the same after Bulma. Hell, even when you were dating her you weren't exactly at the top of your game. But now? I didn't think you could smile this much anymore." Krillin said.

"I didn't think so either." Yamcha admitted. "Having Tien here... it's the best thing that's happened to me in months."

"I'd take a wild guess and say the other best thing was meeting him?" Krillin said. He chuckled when Yamcha nodded. "You're really in it deep with this guy, aren't you?"

"As deep as the ocean." Yamcha said. Krillin laughed and began to pack up his lunch.

"Exactly how I felt when I met Lazuli. Trust me on this one buddy. You hang onto that man" he said. "Now if you'll excuse me, my break's almost over and I have to go feed the tangs."

"I'll see you later. Have a good day." Yamcha said.

"You too." Krillin said. He paused a moment at the door. "And bring that Tenshinhan guy around here sometime. You've talked about him so much already that the entire staff is dying to meet him."

"I'll try." Yamcha said. He finished up his own lunch and got ready to head out. He knew full well that he couldn't bring Tien around anywhere. The closest he could get was a facetime call and even then he'd need a second phone that he definitely couldn't afford. Having Tien as his "official" boyfriend was going to present some obstacles. He decided to think about it later and got to work.

By the time his shift was over he was already halfway to the changing rooms to get into his wetsuit. Then it was down to the ocean and over to an outcropping of rocks Tien was using as a hiding place. As soon as he surfaced near it Tien appeared next to him. He gave the merman a quick kiss and propped himself up on the rocks. Tien leaned on the bottom half of one of them and reached out to hold Yamcha's hand.

"Anything new in the big blue world of yours?" Yamcha said. Tien shrugged.

"Not much that I can tell. It's pretty quiet." Tien said. "Though it's much better with you here."

"I could say the same." Yamcha said. "...What do you mean, "that you can tell"?"

"There's a really strong metallic scent in the water around here. Probably from all the buildings" Tien said. He scowled lightly and tighted his grip. "I can barely pick up anything else."

"What else would you need to smell? Beside food?" Yamcha said. Tien looked away. "...Tien?"

"Remember how I said there was a Mer who ran the territory I lived in back in Japan?" Tien said after a few seconds.

"What about him?" Yamcha asked.

"He wasn't happy about me leaving. I'm his best hunter. He followed me for a good two months and then I lost his scent." Tien explained.

"... do you think he's still after you?" Yamcha said.

"I can't be sure. The water here all smells like metal and Tao has metallic prosthetics. It used to be easy to pick up his scent because nothing else was metallic. Now everything is." Tien said.

"... what would happen if he finds you?" Yamcha said quietly.

"We'd probably fight. He's an older Mer so I'm sure I could take him but..." Tien started to say. He trailed off and Yamcha felt a pang of concern flare up.

"But what, Tien?" he said. He leaned in closer when Tien didn't respond. "Tenshinhan. What is it?"

"... I'm afraid. Of him. He taught me everything I know about hunting. Ever since I was a guppy. He raised me to work for him. If he shows up now... I'm scared I won't be able to fight. That I won't resist." Tien confessed. He let go of Yamcha's hand and slipped down into the water until only his head was above it. "Even if I do fight he's got a built in blade. I'm defenseless and unarmed."

"...I'll admit that doesn't sound ideal." Yamcha said.

"You think?" Tien snorted sarcastically.

"Look, even with all that power behind him I know you're stronger." Yamcha said. He dropped into the water and pulled Tien into a hug. "If anything happens I'm here for you and I will personally kick that dudes ass for you if I have to."

"I doubt you could do much." Tien said but he returned the hug all the same. "Thank you though. For the offer and the support."

"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't do anything?" Yamcha said. He kissed Tien softly and broke it off with a smile. "You'll be okay."

"Of course. I have a loyal land mutt guarding me." Tien said with a small smirk. Yamcha splashed some water at him in retaliation. Tien laughed and ducked beneath the water.

"Oh no you don't." Yamcha said. He took a deep breath and went under the waves. Even with the water blurring his vision it was easy to spot Tien. He swam after the merman for quite some time before he had to surface. He panted for a few seconds and glared at Tien as he emerged laughing from the water. "I think you have an unfair advantage here."

"If you ever get me on the land I'll give you a running start." Tien said. Yamcha tried to splash him again.

"You're lucky I have the staff party to prepare for. Otherwise I'd really let you have it." Yamcha said.

"Make sure you have enough free time next time to show me what you mean." Tien said. Yamcha gave him one last splash and started to swim back to shore.

"I'll bring you some leftovers from the party." Yamcha said. Tien flipped his tail at him in acknowledgement. Yamcha laughed and finished swimming to the beach. He waved briefly in the direction of the ocean and started to walk back to the aquarium. The sooner he got his part of the part planning done, he reasoned, the sooner he could spend more time with Tien. With that thought in mind he headed back into work with a renewed enthusiasm.

One week later... 

"To our beloved aquarium, West Bay!"

"To West Bay!" everybody cheered. Yamcha took a sip of his drink and looked around with a smile. The party was in full swing. Goku had already cleared almost half of the buffet on his own and even the usually stoic Azure bore a small smile. There was a sense of comradeire in the air that Yamcha hadn't felt at the aquarium in a while. Everyone was getting along well, though the alcohol being served may have had something to do with it, and laughter could be heard often.

"Too bad your boyfriend couldn't make it." Krillin said. Yamcha shrugged.

"It's a staff only party." he said.

"I'm sure Lazuli would have made an exception." Krillin said. "We all have a lot to thank the guy for."

"You do?" Yamcha asked.

"Sure we do. He's the reason you came home from Japan at all, for starters, and since he's been here we've all been a lot less worried about you." Krillin explained. "Let's face it, Yamcha. You weren't in the best place before he came around."

"You're right about that, I'll admit." Yamcha said. He walked over to the oceanview balcony and looked out over the waves. "It's been a long time since I've been this happy."

"And everyone is glad for it." Krillin said as he joined him. "Things in general have been getting better around here. I just hope our budget will give us another few years."

"Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky." Yamcha said. Krillin continued talking but something in the waves caught Yamcha's attention.

The sky was already dark and the lights along the beachside lit up the sands with a soft glow. Normally that would be all. Except it wasn't. Yamcha could see a flash of brighter light reflecting off something in the surf. Tien shouldn't be that close to the shore. The longer Yamcha watched the more anxious he felt. Why was Tien coming to the beach at this hour? Then with a final splash Yamcha saw Tien heave himself up onto the sand. Then he stopped moving altogether and the anxious feeling got worse. A sick sensation that started in the pit of his stomach spread as he watched the sand around Tien darken.

"Yamcha? What's wrong?" Krillin asked. Yamcha didn't say anything. Then he began to run towards the walkway to the beach.

A few people shouted, asked where he was going, but Yamcha didn't hear them. His heart was beating faster than it should have been even at his speed. As soon as he reached the bottom of the walkway and stepped foot onto the beach he knew something was very wrong. He could see now that the darkened sand was a deep red hue. He sprinted up to Tien and dropped to his knees at his side. The merman wasn't moving. His gills fluttered weakly and Yamcha could hear his breath come out as a wheeze.

"... Tien? Tien, what happened?" Yamcha said weakly. He tried to turn Tien face up but regretted doing so. Now he could see it. A gash nearly a foot long going diagonally across the right side of Tien's chest. The stuff on the sand was blood. A lot of it. Yamcha resisted gagging and tried to get Tien's attention. "Who did this? Can you hear me? Tien?!"

"... Tao... found me... tried... to fight..." Tien mumbled quietly before coughing violently.

"Stay with me Tien. It's gonna be okay. I'll get you help. Just hang on." Yamcha rambled. He glanced towards the walkway and saw several staff members approaching. He raised a hand and waved them over. "Get a doctor! Or a vet! Someone who can help!"

"What the hell is... going... on..." Krillins frustrated shout trailed off as he stared at Tien in shock. "Is... is that...?"

"A merman, yes. He needs help! Hurry!" Yamcha exclaimed. He could feel tears start to prick at the corners of his eyes. "Please!"

"Holy shit... it's actually a merman..." Krillin said. Lapis and Lazuli followed close behind him and had also stopped in their tracks. All three of them stayed stock still for a few seconds staring down at the creature they all previously believed was a myth.

"Don't just stand there! Do something!" Yamcha yelled. The noise seemed to shock his co workers into action.

"Go get Azure and Goku. They're strong enough to carry him. Lapis, get the operating room ready. A wound that big is going to need serious treatment." Lazuli snapped. Lapis and Krillin nodded and ran towards the building. Lazuli knelt down next to Tien. "Put some pressure on the wound until they get back. It'll slow the bleeding."

"Yes ma'am." Yamcha said. He took off his jacket and folded it. He pressed it against the open flesh with as much strength as he dared. The action caused Tien to cry out in pain. Lazuli reached out and put her own hands over Yamcha's.

"Your arms are shaking." she observed. "Don't worry. Azure and Lapis can help him."

"I know." Yamcha said quietly.

"You knew about him." Lazuli stated. Yamcha nodded, too worried to think of an excuse. Lazuli looked from him to Tien with cold blue eyes. "That's why you've been swimming on all your shift breaks. You were going to see him."

"Of course I was." Yamcha said. He let a few tears trail down his cheeks. "What kind of boyfriend would I be otherwise?"

"... I see. This is Tenshinhan." Lazuli said. "You're going to have a lot to explain later."

"I know." Yamcha said.

"Let's get him safe first." Lazuli said.

"... thank you." Yamcha said.

"Don't worry about it. This guy is our top priority right now." said Lazuli. The beach fell silent save the pained groans from Tien.

After a minute or so Goku and Azure made it down to the beach. Lazuli gave them their instructions as Yamcha got out of the way. Soon the two men had Tien lifted up and began carrying him up the walkway steps. Yamcha followed behind them as closely as he could. He wasn't going to let Tien out of his sight until he was absolutely sure he was going to be okay. He managed to trail along with them until they reached the medical center.

"I suggest you get out of the way. We need to work without any distractions." Lapis said. Yamcha began to protest but a firm hand on his shoulder made him pause. He looked up to see Azure staring down at him.

"We will do our best. Do not be afraid." he said. His calm demeanor was encouraging and Yamcha nodded.

"Okay." he said. "If... if you can't do anything... then please... let me see him before..."

"I understand." Azure said.

"And, if he's awake tell him that I promise to be there as soon as I can." Yamcha continued.

"We will. Try to relax and clean the blood off yourself, okay?" Lapis said. Yamcha looked down at his hands and realized they were indeed covered in blood along with his shirt.

"We will let you know when you can see him again." Azure said. Then he and Lapis went inside the room and closed the door.

Yamcha numbly made his way to the closest bathroom and cleaned himself up. A uniform shirt replaced his bloodstained one and his hands were scrubbed clean. He still didn't feel right. There was way too much worry in him right now to think about anything else. Yells of agony led him back to the entrance to the medical ward. He winced as he listened. It was a horrible feeling knowing he couldn't do anything. He leaned against the wall and slid down it until he was sitting. If he couldn't be in there then he was going to be as close as he could. Eventually someone came down the hall. He looked up to see Goku standing next to him with a concerned smile.

"Hey man. They're the best vets we have in these parts. If anyone can help that fish guy it's them." he said. He crouched down next to Yamcha and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You trust them, right?"

"I do. I just... wish I could do more." Yamcha mumbled. Goku pulled him in for a one armed side hug.

"We all do. How about you come get a warm drink with everyone else? You'll feel better with some hot chocolate in you." he said. "I can put extra marshmallows in."

"God, you're such a dad." Yamcha said with a weak laugh. "Sure. I'll go with you."

"That's the spirit. C'mon. The others are waiting." Goku said. He helped Yamcha stand up and led him down the hallway. "They have a lot of questions but you take your time, okay? I'll make sure they don't bother you."

"Thanks Goku. It means a lot." Yamcha said. Goku smiled again and put an arm around his shoulder.

"You've got a lot of people who care about you buddy." he said. "Once we know you're okay then we'll feel a lot better."

"I don't think I'm going to be okay until I know Tien's gonna live." Yamcha mumbled. Goku blinked owlishly and a look of dawning realization slowly rose on his face.

"Tien? That's your boyfriend right? So that means... that fish guy is your boyfriend?" he said.

"It's a long story." Yamcha said.

"I'll get out my special rainbow marshmallows then." Goku said eagerly.

Yamcha laughed again despite himself as Goku's natural charisma cheered him up. The wait for Tien to come out of the medical ward was still going to be hard but it might be just a little bit better with friends.


	6. Tanked

The fact that Goku's special rainbow marshmallows were fish shaped almost made the need for them worth it. Yamcha felt he might be able to work up a smile as he watched the multicolored sugary shapes bob along in his mug. The break room was quiet even with all available staff members crammed into it. Most of them stared at Yamcha or off into space.

"So..." one of the new hires began slowly. They looked down at their feet for a moment and then raised their head. "Merpeople are a thing."

"Yep." Yamcha said. He stirred his hot chocolate with a spoon and the silence returned for a moment.

"Did... did you know about them?" asked the employee again. They fiddled with their name tag nervously. "Did everyone else know about them except me?"

"Don't worry Cela. I was the only one keeping it a secret." Yamcha assured them. They relaxed a bit and nodded.

"Okay. I thought you guys might not trust me or something." they said.

"We all trust each other here. That's the West Bay way." Goku said. His signature grin hadn't left his face. "And when Yamcha's ready talk about it he will."

"There's not too much else to do right now, is there?" Yamcha said. He took a small sip of his drink and then sighed. "Okay. You can ask questions but keep them to one at a time, please."

"Can do, buddy!" Goku said. "Anyone who wants to ask something just put your hand up."

All the hands in the room raised.

"O-kayyy... that's... a lotta questions... uhh..." Goku said. He pointed at Krillin. "You first."

"How long have you known about this?" Krillin said. Yamcha felt a tinge of guilt and looked down at his mug again.

"Since my trip to Japan." he said. "I didn't say anything for... a lot of reasons."

"Next, you!" Goku said. He gestured towards Cela.

"What were the reasons?" they asked.

"Well, he asked me to, for one. I didn't want to betray his trust." Yamcha said. "When I got back here I thought I'd never see him again so I kept quiet."

"All valid reasons." Goku said with a nod. He picked Lazuli next.

"Were you planning to tell us your boyfriend is a merman?" she said.

"Not without his permission." Yamcha said. "It probably would have taken a while."

"Sounds like it would." Goku said. He pointed at Piccolo next.

"What comes now?" he asked.

"I... I don't know." Yamcha said. "At the moment all I want is for Tien to be okay. I haven't considered anything after that."

"Well, now you can start."

Yamcha turned around to see a tired looking Lapis standing in the doorway. His usually deadpan face had a small smile on it. Yamcha felt a chill of worry and releif go through him. He slowly put down his drink and stood up.

"Is he...?"

"Your merman is fine. We'll want to monitor his recovery in an isolation tank but he's stable." Lapis said. He was taken aback slightly when Yamcha suddenly walked over and hugged him.

"Thank you." Yamcha said softly. He could feel himself starting to cry again. "Thank you for saving him."

"It's our job." Lapis said. He awkwardly patted Yamcha on the back and wiggled out of the hug. "And yes, you can go see him. He's in quarantine ward 4H-U."

Before anything more could be said Yamcha was out the door and running down the hall. He was vaguely aware of the others following him but didn't care. After a few minutes he made it to quarantine and walked into the ward. The first thing he saw was Azure standing next to one of their large tanks. Then he saw Tien. Lying at the bottom of the tank bandaged but alive. Yamcha walked up to the tank and knelt down. He could see Tien' gills fluttering and the waterproof bandage that stretched across his chest moved ever so slightly as he breathed.

"It will probably be a while before he wakes up." Azure said. Yamcha looked up at him with the most grateful smile he could muster.

"Thank you." he said quietly. Azure smiled back.

"It is my job." he said. The two stayed in silence as Yamcha watched Tien. Soon the rest of the staff had joined them and surrounded the tank.

"Wow... he really is something." Krillin said.

"He's beautiful." Cela added.

"Wait until you talk to him." Yamcha said. He allowed a soft smirk to form on his lips. "He's full of enough sass to rival Bulma."

"Gods forbid, there's two of them." Piccolo groaned. Yamcha laughed gently and rested his palm against the side of the tank. Eventually the others left and it was just him and Azure again.

The sound of water splashing woke Yamcha from a slumber he didn't know he had entered. He looked around blearily and rubbed his eyes. He'd been placed on one of the benches in the quarrentine area and covered with someone's jacket. A glance at the clock told him it was almost noon. Another splash caught his attention and he stood up. He walked over to the main tank from the night before but it was empty. He followed the noises he had heard to one of the shallow treatment tanks. Azure was bent over it with bandages in hand and by the looks of it had just applied fresh ones. Yamcha made his way over to see Tien still asleep and lying in the pool.

"He must have some sort of Merperson healing ability. His wound went from near fatal to a few days old overnight." Azure said.

"He didn't tell me much about the Mer but I'm sure they have something like that." Yamcha said. "They can create illusions so maybe it's magic."

"If that is an illusion," Azure said as he pointed at Tien's chest, "Then I am throwing him back in to the ocean myself."

The two shared a brief laugh and then Azure walked off to put away his supplies. Yamcha reached into the tank and gently held Tien's hand. All the stress of the previous night had dialed down and now he only felt a low buzz of worry. He perked up as he noticed Tien begin to stir. All three eyelids blinked open slowly and his gaze soon settled on Yamcha.

"You kept your promise." Tien mumbled weakly. Yamcha smiled and tried not to cry again.

"Of course I did. That's what boyfriends do." he said. Tien smiled back and squeezed his hand.

"Thank you. I'd hate to wake up to a stranger." he said.

"Anyone would." Yamcha said. "How are you feeling?"

"Besides torn open? Splendid." Tien said. Yamcha barely suppressed a snort of a laugh.

"Glad to see you didn't lose your sense of humor along with all that blood." he said. "You owe me a new shirt."

"I'll weave you one out of seaweed." Tien joked. He laughed and then coughed.

"Take it easy, koi boy." Yamcha said. "I didn't do all that worrying just to lose you now."

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." Tien said.

"I'd kiss you but I don't think it'd be sanitary." Yamcha said. "Our vets are pretty strict."

"I can wait a little longer." Tien said.

"Just gotta use your healing magic, right?" Yamcha said.

"Did I tell you about that?" Tien asked.

"I figured it out." Yamcha said. Tien laughed again.

"I'm lucky I dove for such a smart human." he said.

"If that means the same thing as falling for me then I'm flattered." Yamcha said.

"I think it does." Tien said. "Do humans use the word love?"

"We do."

"Then it's easier to say I love you, isn't it?" he concluded with a smile. Yamcha laughed quietly.

"I love you too, you silly fish man." he said. Tien gave a weak laugh of his own. They continued quipping back and forth until Azure returned.

The following weeks were hectic to say the least. The aquarium had to stay open to the public and continue running while the staff kept an eye on Tien and tried to figure out what to do with him. It didn't take too long for Tien to recover enough from his injury to be swimming around without his bandages. The attack had left a nasty scar across his chest that Yamcha had deemed "badass" and "sexy", much to the mermans embarrassment. Several introductions had been made since Tien's arrival and it seemed everyone was getting along well with him.

"What happens next?" Tien asked one day. "I can't stay in this tank forever."

"It depends. Do you want to let the world know about Merpeople? Or would you rather return to the ocean?" Yamcha said.

"Going back to the ocean wouldn't be the best idea. Tao is still out there, for one, and I don't really have much to return to." Tien said.

"... what about Chiaotzu?" Yamcha said. Tien sighed and swam a quick lap around the small tank as he thought.

"It's better for him that I don't go back. If I'm not at the docks then he can't be punished for going to them." he said after a while. "I miss him but I don't want to risk putting him in danger."

"I guess you have a point." Yamcha said.

"If we reveal the Mer to the world... that could endager my entire species. We've avoided fishers so far but I'm sure we'd be hunted if it got out that there's more of us." Tien said.

"... what if there wasn't more of you?" Yamcha said as an idea came to him. "We tell the world that you're the last of your kind. The only merman on the planet."

"... It might work." Tien said. "That way I don't have to hide and I won't worry about the others."

"Exactly!" Yamcha said. "You can stay here and we'll keep you safe. If you want to stay."

"Staying here..." Tien said. He considered it for a moment and then smiled. "You'd better build me one hell of an exhibit."

"The best in the world." Yamcha said. "With a private cave if you don't feel like being gawked at by the public."

"Speaking of the public... how do you plan to break the news?" Tien asked.

"I dunno... the science community would probably be the first to know. That way the world doesn't think it's a hoax." Yamcha said. "We'd have to inform our higher ups as well so we can get the money to build the exhibit."

"I'd be happy to talk them into it." Tien said.

"So... we're doing this then? Telling the world that you exist?" Yamcha said. Tien nodded.

"It sounds like a plan to me." he said. Yamcha grinned and leaned over the side of the tank.

"Well then, Mr. Last of the Mer, we've got a lot of work to do." he said. Tien swam up to meet him and pulled himself up to the edge of the tank. After a quick kiss Tien dropped back down with a splash. Yamcha laughed and wiped the water off of his face.

They had a lot do indeed.


	7. Headed Upstream

"I'm really glad they hired you for graphic design,"

"You are?" Cela said. Yamcha held up the poster they had made for the exhibit.

"Of course! This looks great!" he said. The main focus of the poster was a side angle shot of Tien. It captured him from his neck gills down to the start of his tail. It was attention grabbing but didn't reveal too much. The title at the top told people to "Meet the last Merman on earth" and the bottom text read "He's waiting for you at the West Bay Aquarium."

"I tried to get people interested but I didn't want to show too much of Tien in the picture." Cela said. "Maybe I should have used a shot of his back..."

"It's amazing the way it is. Don't worry about it." Yamcha said. Cela grinned and tapped away at their laptop.

"I put the picture as the banner for our website and set up an information page." they said. "Are you sure the first week of admissions is supposed to be free?"

"It's the best option. We get more word of mouth out that way and it lets people who can't afford it normally visit the aquarium." Yamcha explained.

"I guess that's a pretty good reason." Cela agreed.

"It was Tien's idea." Yamcha said.

"Your boyfriend is pretty smart." Cela said.

"I must have rubbed off on him at some point." Yamcha said.

He ignored Cela's chuckle and headed outside. There was a group of people waiting for him when he got there. He recognized the man in the front and shook his hand.

"It's good to see you again, Gohan." said Yamcha.

"Same to you uncle Yamcha." Gohan said with a smile. He hastily turned to the people behind him. "Not blood related. I just grew up with him around. Friends with my dad."

"You're rambling again, kid. Excited?" Yamcha said with a small laugh. Gohan adjusted his glasses and looked sheepish.

"It's not every day one gets to meet a Merman." he said.

"True. They tend to stay in your mind once you've met one though." Yamcha said. He began to lead the group. "Follow me. The exhibit is this way."

It didn't take long to walk to the exhibit. A sign pointed the way with bright letters directing the reader towards the Ningyo Grotto. After a few more steps the pathway split. One way lead down below to the underwater observation area while the other ended at the stands. The tank itself was enormous. Inside of it was a massive stone structure that reached above the waters surface. In the middle of the submerged mountain was a large hole that went all the way through. In the middle of that was a smaller hole that led into a tunnel connected to a private cave. Countless plants and coral flourished inside the tank. The top edge of the tank had a clear wall around it about five feet tall. A part of it could be opened to allow assess to the water. Yamcha herded the scientists up to the stands and had them sit down. Then he let one of his hands dip into the water. He and Tien had already decided that if anyone needed to get Tien's attention a quick whiff of their scent in the water would summon him fairly quickly. Sure enough he surfaced after a few seconds of waiting.

"Gentlemen, this is Tenshinhan, the last of the Mer." Yamcha said.

"Just call me Tien." said Tien. A few of the more skeptical scientists already looked a bit shaken. Maybe they hadn't known Tien could talk.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Tien. I'm Gohan." said Gohan with an outstretched hand. Tien accepted the handshake with a smile.

"Likewise. Your father has spoken very proudly of you." he said.

"You know my dad?" Gohan asked.

"I know the staff well." Tien said. "I've been here for a couple of months already."

"Of course." Gohan said. He sat with the rest of the scientists and readied his clipboard.

"I know all of you are here to ask questions. I'll answer them as best I can." Tien said to the group. One of the men raised his hand.

"Professor Worthington of East City University." he introduced himself. "We've been informed that you are apparently the last of your kind. How do you know this to be true?"

"An excellent question, sir. Over the past few years there's been an unknown disease sweeping through the Mer population. It weakens our health and renders our eggs sterile. Mer were already antisocial and the threat of contamination spurred further separation. Recently this "Trench Curse", as I called it, got worse and began affecting previously healthy Mer. I was lucky to get out of the ocean when I did. I haven't seen another living Mer for nearly a year and I'm almost certain there's none left." Tien explained.

Yamcha tried not to smirk as the group took notes. He and Tien had gone over several possible questions and built answers before the scientists arrived. With pollution the way it was a disease was the most convincing lie to use in spinning the tale of the Mer's demise. A couple of the men in their audience looked like they didn't quite buy it but they didn't say anything about it. The rest seemed satisfied and Gohan just looked sad.

"I'm sorry to hear it, Tien. It must have been rough, losing everyone like that." Gohan said.

"It could have been worse. I'm not infected and as I stated Mer aren't very social." Tien said. "Thank you for your sympathy, however. Perhaps if the Mer had reached out to humans sooner we would still be thriving."

"You called this disease "Trench Curse." May I ask why?" said Worthington.

"Mer have their own sayings and words humans don't. In this case the use of the word "Trench" is likely what you're confused about." Tien said. "Simply put, the trenches are full of of pain and suffering for Mer. Dangerous creatures lurk near them and the pressure causes our gills to collapse. We can't swim at the trenches depth safely. Since the trenches are so hazardous many Mer avoided them all together."

"It's like hell. You'd tell someone to "Go to the trench" and it'd mean "Go to hell". Not too hard to remember." Yamcha added. Tien nodded.

"Exactly. Although Mer tended to make more... elaborate curses than that." Tien said. "I think "May the trench take you" would be closer. Most Mer would have said "May your gills fail you and crabs feast on your corpse" with the understanding that the implication of the trench was there."

"F-fascinating, thank you." said Worthington. Tien flashed a sharp toothed smile.

"Not a problem, professor." he said.

"Um, hello there." another man piped up with a half raised hand. "I'm Doctor Casey Knox. I was wondering... would you happen to be a carnivore?"

"Close. Mer are omnivores but have a tendency to prefer meat. Mainly because of our diet. Fresh fish are easier to find then a steady supply of plants." Tien said. "Our teeth also have other purposes."

"May I have a closer look at them?" asked Knox.

"Doctors Gero and Stone have all of my biological information on record, including dental. You can ask them about it later." Tien said. "I'd rather not have a stranger poking around in my mouth."

"Sorry. I should have thought of that." said Knox.

"It's quite alright doctor. I know humans are curious." Tien said. "I can tell you something the vets don't know about my teeth."

"What's that?" asked Knox.

"Several of the front ones act like fangs. If I wish to do so when I bite my prey I can inject a venom." Tien said.

"You have venom?" Yamcha exclaimed. "That would have been nice to know before now."

"I'm very careful with it." Tien said. He had the grace to look a little sheepish. "Still feel like kissing me?"

"I'll think about it." Yamcha teased. "You must be doing something right if I'm not dead yet."

"The venom isn't dangerous. It simply shuts down the victims pain sensors." Tien explained. "It's easier to eat when your meal isn't struggling."

"Pardon me -" said one of the professors, "But did you say... kiss?"

"No one briefed you guys on anything, did they?" Yamcha said. "Alright. To make a really long story short – Tien and I are a couple. We have been for quite a while now. We are also NOT taking questions about our relationship at this time."

"Congratulations, you two." Gohan said. "Dad mentioned Yamcha finally had someone in his life. Although he didn't mention they were a merman."

"It's not really something I mentioned to him in the first place." Yamcha said. "Moving on, I'm sure everyone still has lots of other questions."

The rest of the afternoon was of little note. General questions were asked about the Mer, their sociology and biology, and quite a few times Tien had to remind the audience that he wasn't there to be prodded by them. Yamcha sighed as yet another doctor he'd never heard of asked about habitats. He decided Worthington was alright, a generally polite man, and Doctor Knox was one of the nicer ones. Of course, Gohan lead most of the engaging discussions while the rest of them took notes. Yamcha was pretty sure one of the professors in the back of the group had been glaring at him for the better part of an hour. Once their time was up Yamcha gladly escorted the group out of the exhibit.

"You'd think they'd be more creative with the stuff they ask." Tien noted later that evening as they practiced their routine for the "shows" that were being held that week.

"I'll say. I hope the public's more interesting." Yamcha said. "... maybe I shouldn't have mentioned kissing."

"Why not?" said Tien.

"I dunno... one of those guys was definitely giving me the evil eye the whole time. Everyone on staff is so accepting I almost forgot homophobes are a thing." Yamcha said.

"Right. You told me about those kinds of humans." Tien said. "It shouldn't matter, right? That guy can't do anything to hurt you."

"A fair point. It just kinda bummed me out a bit." Yamcha said with a sigh. A staticy click over his walkie talkie caught his attention.

"Yamcha, you there?"

"Yeah. What's up?" said Yamcha, picking up the device.

"There's a Miss Briefs here to see you."

"Bulma? Tell her I'll be down in a minute." Yamcha said.

"Actually, she sort of... went past the barricade... she'll probably be there soon. Sorry."

Before Yamcha could ask anything he saw a familiar face appear at the stands entrance.

"Who's that?" Tien asked. He swam up to the edge of the pool beside Yamcha. "One of your friends?"

"Yeah. She's the one who wanted that picture of you." Yamcha said. He braced himself as he watched Bulma approach. He had no idea why she was here and didn't know what to expect.

"YOU'RE DATING A MERMAN!?" Bulma shouted as she came closer. Within seconds she finished her journey over and put her hands on her hips. "It's been MONTHS and you didn't tell me?!"

"Hello to you too, Bulms." Yamcha said. "You know you're not supposed to be up here?"

"I don' give a damn about all that." Bulma said with a hand wave. "You've seriously been smooching some mythical creature since Japan and didn't think to mention it?"

"You knew about Tien back then. I literally told you the day I met him." Yamcha pointed out. "I doubt you would have believed me if I said he was a merman."

"Speaking of the merman, it's nice to meet you." Tien spoke up. He reached a hand over the side of the tank. "I'm Tenshinhan. You must be Bulma."

"Right, right. I should have done this first." Bulma said as she leaned in to shake hands. "It's great to finally talk to the guy Yamcha's so taken with."

"Bulma, you could have just waited until the exhibit opened to see him. Or you could have called me." Yamcha said. Bulma crossed her arms.

"There's no way I'm waiting that long." she said.

"It's this weekend." Yamcha pointed out.

"And a call isn't the same!" Bulma continued. Her expression softened a little. "It's good to see you again anyways."

"You too, Bulms." Yamcha said. "I still wish you'd at least waited at the gate for me."

"You wanted to get yelled at sooner?" Bulma said with a small laugh. Yamcha pointed to a couple of uniformed people entering the area.

"No, I just didn't want to bother security." he said. Bulma sighed and began walking towards the guards.

"I've still got a lot to say to you!" she shouted back at Yamcha.

"Do it legally next time!" he called back. He watched security escort Bulma out of the exhibit and sighed.

"Was she the one you used to date?" Tien asked.

"Is it that easy to tell?" Yamcha said.

"She's... something." Tien said.

"She's several things." Yamcha said.

"Is that usually how things go with her?" Tien said.

"I wouldn't know anymore. She's changed since we were together." Yamcha said.

"How so?" Tien said.

"She's calmed down." Yamcha said. Tien laughed.

"If that's calm I'd hate to see her riled up." he said. "So... should we get back to practicing?"

"Suppose so. Don't want you trying a jump and landing on me." Yamcha said. Tien splashed some water on him and swam a few feet away with a chuckle.

"As fun as that might look I agree. We'd probably get hurt." he said.

"Exactly. Let's run through this thing one more time." Yamcha said. Tien gave him a thumbs up and dove beneath the water. Yamcha smiled and tried to recall the first lines of his script. As crazy as his day had been there was no time for rest. The weekend was bound to be a blur of people and he had to be as prepared as possible. With that in mind he cleared his throat and began going through his speech.


	8. Breaching News

The day the Ningyo Grotto exhibit opened would go down as one of the most attended days in West Bay Aquariums history. The advertising had been stellar and with the leading scientists in the field confirming the merman was for real the public was convinced. Free admission hadn't hurt either. The aquarium grounds were already crowded beyond belief and the line forming for the exhibit snaked its way through the paths down to the entrance. Countless families and their children were enjoying the regular sights while other patrons excitedly chatted about the prospect of seeing a merman. It was easily the happiest the atmosphere in the aquarium had been years.

Yamcha was nervous as hell.

He'd practiced the routine and his speeches countless times with Tien over the preceding week but it was doing little to calm his nerves. As he zipped himself into his wetsuit his brain kept running through worst case scenarios. What if someone got hurt? He fiddled with his hair elastic nervously and made his ponytail just a little too tight. What if something went wrong? Logically there wasn't any risk but try telling that to anxiety. He took a few deep breaths and picked up his headset. The sooner he started things the sooner they'd be over. There was only two shows to do that day. He could handle it.

With that in mind Yamcha finally headed up to the stands. Everything was in place except him and the audience. He went to the open part of the tank fence and lowered himself into the pool. After a bit of fiddling he had the section of fence back up and locked into place. He swam out to the part of the stone tower that peeked above the surface of the water. It had been made flat enough for him to stand on for presentations. He set down a second headset he had carried out there and made a quick call to the gate to let them know he was in position. Then he waited.

The stands filled quicker then he had been expecting. He could see people of all ages lining the seats in various states of excitement. There were a lot of children in particular. As he scanned the crowd that seemed to be mostly in place he stood up and switched on his headset. Thank the gods for waterproof microphones. He'd hate to have to shout everything.

"Good morning everyone! It's great to see you all out here with us today at the West Bay Aquarium. The show will be starting in just a few minutes." he said with the most welcoming and cheerful voice he could muster. A stammering of applause met his ears in response along with a couple of cheers. At least the audience was ready even if he wasn't. Once all the seats were occupied and the chatter had settled into a low murmur it was time to begin. He raised a hand and soon the crowd was silent and attentive.

"Once again, I welcome you to the Ningyo Grotto, our newest exhibit here at West Bay. My name is Yamcha. I will be running the show today and I am also the reason the show exits. You see, a number of months ago I was on an assignment in Japan. While I was there I met someone special." he started. He crouched down and dipped a hand into the water.

"I'm sure you've all heard of him and you're excited to meet him. Not to mention you're probably tired of hearing me talk already." he continued. A few laughs from the audience gave him some comfort. At least his humor was working. It was better than nothing for sure. Maybe things would work out fine after all.

"Without further ado, I am pleased to introduce to you..." Yamcha said. He lifted his hand out of the pool. At the same moment he saw a dark shape under the water approaching fast. He grinned and spread his arms wide. "Tenshinhan, the last merman on earth!"

As soon as he finished his announcement Tien left the tank in a very well practiced leap over where Yamcha was sitting. He dove back into the water seamlessly to thunderous applause. Yamcha stood up again and watched with a smile as Tien swam a lap around the pool.

"Now, I'm sure all of you have questions. Right away I can tell you that he doesn't know many tricks. That's mainly because he is not an animal. For all intents and purposes Tenshinhan is just a human with some fish bits added in. He is intelligent, emotional, and most importantly, willing to put up with me." Yamcha said. He got a larger laugh this time. Tien surfaced next to Yamcha and used an arm to prop himself up onto the rock. He grabbed the extra headset and slipped it on.

"That doesn't mean I have to like him." he said with a smirk. More laughter from the crowd and a few cheers. Yamcha rolled his eyes dramatically and crossed his arms.

"Would you like to do the show for me?" he asked. Tien pretended to think about it.

"Hmm. That depends. Does the audience think I could do a better job?" he said. The people watching cheered loudly and Yamcha had to turn off his mic for a moment so he could laugh.

"Well, I'm the one getting paid to talk about you but if you insist on taking my place then get up here." Yamcha said once the crowd had settled. Tien pulled himself onto the space left on the rock and sat up as best he could.

"Should I start telling bad jokes now?" he asked.

"As great as I'm sure that would be how about we stick to audience questions for now? I'm sure there's a lot to get through and more people makes the work go faster." Yamcha said. Tien sighed dramatically.

"I guess I'll let you keep your job for now." he said. A few members of the crowd laughed again and Yamcha smiled. It was nice to see his script was working.

"Sounds good to me. Now, anyone who wants to ask something can line up along the edge of the tank starting at the employees with the microphones over there." Yamcha said as he pointed to the two uniformed people standing across from him.

The lines formed fast and some people stood in the aisles of the stands to extend them. Yamcha signaled to one of the workers and they held the microphone out to the first person in their line. A young girl stood on her tiptoes and held the mic with both hands.

"Can you talk to fish?" she asked.

"No, not really. They see me like they'd see a shark. A predator. Some of the smarter ones and I have an understanding. They don't bother me and I don't bother them." Tien said.

"Okay. Thank you." said the girl. She headed back to her seat and the questions continued.

"Why do you have three eyes?" An older teen this time.

"Well, Mer have an innate natural magic. We heal faster than humans and can create illusions to appear more human. Our third eye is where our magic flows from." Tien said. "There's a few more small things we can do with it but it's mainly just an eye."

"How did you get that scar?" A young man.

"A fight. I like to think I won." Tien said. He didn't elaborate any further.

"Do you live in fresh or salt water?" An elderly man.

"Mer can live in both. It doesn't effect us like it does fish." Tien said.

"Why did you come here?" An older lady.

"I didn't have much in Japan. When Yamcha here left I decided to go find him." Tien said.

"A question for the presenter. How did you find the merman?" A middle aged man.

"I did something stupid while swimming and almost drowned. Tien saved me." Yamcha said. He was surprised someone asked him anything.

"Are you lonely?" A teen girl.

"No. I have friends here. More than I ever had out in the ocean." Tien said. "I'm quite happy."

"Do you find humans attractive?" Another teen girl.

"Let's just say I found one in particular that I happen to like." Tien said. "You're not getting anymore gossip than that."

"What do you eat?" A younger man.

"Mainly fish. Some plants. The food you humans have up here on land is a lot better though." Tien said.

"What's your favorite color?" A young boy.

"I'd have to say orange. Like a sunset." Tien said after a small laugh. Yamcha couldn't help but to smile along with him. He was right about the public being way more interesting than those scientists.

"What happened to all the other merpeople?" A young man.

"A disease. I was lucky to get out of the water before I contacted it." Tien said.

"Do you think any other merpeople survived?" A young woman.

"I doubt it. Even if some did any eggs they had wouldn't be healthy enough to hatch." Tien said.

"How fast can you swim?" A young boy.

"I've never timed it. I'll have to let you know later." Tien said.

"How long can you be out of the water?" A young girl.

"Around four hours. Then I start to dry out." Tien said.

"How can you breathe on land?" Another teen.

"I have lungs similar to a humans. They're connected to my gills. If I need to I can take in extra air for emergencies. For example; saving a human who wanders into my home without enough air." Tien said with a pointed look at Yamcha. A few more laughs from the audience.

"Yes, thank you again for not drowning me." Yamcha said. He glanced down at his watch. "We only have time for a few more questions so really think about what you wanna know. If we don't get to you don't worry. We're gonna awnser more on our website and post all the ones that we've already been asked."

"Are you like... a siren?" asked the next man in line. "Luring people with singing to drown them?"

"Uh, no. That's entirely a human made thing." Tien said. "I don't think I've ever sang in my life."

"I'll see if I can convince him to try sometime." Yamcha said. Tien glared and splashed some water on him with his tail. Yamcha laughed softly and wiped it off. "I doubt I'll have much luck."

"Is is possible for you to get the bends?" An older man. Yamcha couldn't tell from this distance but he felt like it was Professor Worthington from the day before.

"It's not. However, I can't dive too deep or the pressure will crush my gills." Tien said.

"Do you have a native language?" A teen.

"Technically. Mer mainly communicated using body language and a picture based system. As for any other languages, I also speak fluent japanese and english." Tien said.

"Alright folks, that's all the questions we have time for today." Yamcha said. "Thank you for coming to our show and to West Bay. Our observation area will be open when you leave and you can stick around here if you want to. We hope you had a fun time today and that you'll come again."

It took a while for everyone to leave the stands. Of course a few groups stuck around to wave at Tien and stare. Yamcha gathered up the headsets and got ready to swim out.

"I'll meet you in the cave for lunch." Tien said as he swam past.

"Sounds like a date." Yamcha said with a smile.

He made his way over to the fence and unlocked the gate panel. After climbing out he closed it again and began walking to his equipment station. He barely avoided a few people trying to talk to him along the way. By the time he had his lunch in hand it was later then he hoped. With a sigh he walked down the employee only stairs to the entrance of Tien's private cave. He headed inside after a quick knock.

"Hey. I brought food."

"That's why I keep you around." Tien said sarcastically. He was already lying on the rocky floor of the cave a few feet away from the water.

"I knew I was good for something." Yamcha said as he sat down next to him. He handed over a sandwich and unwrapped his own.

"You did a great job today. You've got a natural flair for this kind of thing." Tien said.

"You think so?" Yamcha said.

"Yeah. People are drawn to you. You're charismatic." Tien said.

"Is that what made you fall for me?" Yamcha teased.

"No, it was your cooking skills." Tien replied. "Which, by the way, are amazing."

"It's not like you have much to compare it to." Yamcha said.

"It's better then fish every day." Tien said.

"I guess it would be." Yamcha said. "You did good too. I'm glad we didn't get any difficult questions."

"Speak for yourself." Tien said. "You only got asked one."

"Yeah but it's not like anyone asked for your whole life story." Yamcha said. "... did any of the questions bother you?

"Not really, it's just..." Tien said. He sighed and lowered his lunch. "I wish I could be more honest about some stuff. Like us, for example."

"I'm sure some eager fan will figure things out at some point." Yamcha mumbled. "I wish we could be open about it too but the boss doesn't want to risk it. Someone might want to hurt one or both of us if they found out."

"I guess." Tien said. Yamcha inched closer to him and put an arm around his shoulder.

"It'll come out eventually. We just need to be careful in public." Yamcha said quietly. Tien leaned against him and stared at the water.

"I know." he said. Then he perked up a little. "But... we aren't in public right now."

"That is true." Yamcha said with a smile. He soon found himself being pulled into a hug. Then a kiss. Then a few more.

"Promise we won't have to keep this a secret for long?" Tien said after pulling back a little.

"I promise." Yamcha said. He smiled and went in for another kiss. They had a bit of time before the next show, after all, so they might as well use it.


	9. Catch and Keep

"Happy anniversary!"

A round of applause and cheers swept through the area. Once again all the staff members were gathered for a party more than a year after the first event that had sparked everything. Yamcha clapped along with his co workers and smiled as he surveyed the crowd. Employees both new and old were in attendance to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Ningyo Grotto exhibit opening. The West Bay Aquarium had changed a lot in that time. The exhibit had brought in more money than they ever could have hoped for. Almost all the other parts of the aquarium had been given upgrades and they could still afford to have a free attendance day once a month. The only thing that had slowed down was the amount of questions asked at Yamcha's shows. The aquarium website had an extensive FAQ section for Tien specifically and thankfully the public seemed to be reading it. Even better was that the quality of the questions asked had increased as the quantity dropped. The only ones not answered were the ones about Tien and Yamcha's personal lives. As expected someone eventually put together that they were dating and the news had spread fast once they officially confirmed it. Nothing negative seemed to have happened so far and they were both thankful for the freedom.

"I'd like to thank all of you for putting up with me for a year." Tien said with a raised glass. Everyone shared a laugh and toasted. Yamcha made his way over to the temporary tank Tien had been placed in for the party.

"I've been with you for longer than that. Do I get anything special?" he asked. Tien chuckled and leaned over to give Yamcha a quick kiss on the cheek.

"You get all my love." he said. Yamcha pretended to be offended.

"Is that all? I might just have to throw you back. The beach isn't too far away..." he said. He preemptively raised a hand against the splash he knew was coming. "I'm joking. Love is all I need."

"It'd better be." Tien said. "Although I could tell you what your scent is, besides wet dog..."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure I should. It's fun to keep you in suspense." Tien teased.

"Talk like that again and I'm not getting you anymore food from the snack table tonight." Yamcha warned. Tien laughed and set his glass down on the ground next to his tank.

"Alright, alright. I suppose it's about time you knew." he said. He crossed his arms over the side of the tank and looked thoughtful. "So you already know you smell like a wet dog..."

"We have established that many times." Yamcha said.

"It's true. That's not all there is though." Tien said. "There's also... a dryness to it. It's like sand. A beach. Complete with the salt from an ocean breeze. No matter what I can tell it's you. By now it's a comforting scent. Even out of the water I can still pick it up from you. You smell like nature, more or less. Like home."

"Tien... that would be so poetic if it weren't for the wet dog comment." Yamcha said after a moment.

"You wanted to know!" Tien pointed out.

"I know. Thank you for telling me. For me to be... home, to you, that... that means a lot to me." Yamcha said. He smiled and pulled Tien into a hug. "I love you."

"I know. I love you too, land mutt." Tien said. Yamcha laughed and pulled back from the hug.

"Tastefully put, koi boy." he said with a smirk. "For what's it's worth, to me... you smell like family."

"I'm a fish. Everyone here smells like me." Tien pointed out.

"And everyone here is my family too, in a way." Yamcha said. "This past year has been the best of my life and it's thanks to all the people here tonight."

"I could easily say the same." Tien agreed. "They've made it possible for me to stay with you."

"Speaking of family..." Yamcha said. He trailed off and began to shuffle through his pockets. Tien swam closer and leaned over his tank a bit further.

"What is it?" he asked. Yamcha finally found the paper he was looking for and unfolded it.

"It took a long time and a lot of forms, don't ask me how many, I couldn't tell you with a gun to my head, but..." he said as he held up the paper. "I got this in the mail this morning."

"Are you planning on telling me what it is?" Tien said. Yamcha couldn't help but let a goofy smile grow on his face as he got ready to read the paper out loud. He'd put a hell of a lot of work and money into getting it and he was gonna make revealing it count.

"Dear Mr. Zedaki..." he began reading. "That's me, by the way."

"I know your last name, you dork. Keep going." Tien said.

"We here at the International Foster Care and Adoption agency are pleased to inform you..." Yamcha read. Tien perked up a bit and looked much more interested.

"Foster care and adoption?"

"Let me finish." Yamcha said. "As I was saying, we here at the International Foster Care and Adoption agency are pleased to inform you that your approval has been finalized. As of this day you are now officially the legal guardian of..."

Most of the people around them had stopped talking when Yamcha began reading the letter and were now listening in. Tien had almost pushed himself out of his tank trying to see the paper. Yamcha faltered for a moment as he let the emotion of the next sentence get to him.

"The legal guardian of Chiaotzu Shinto."

"YOU ADOPTED CHIAOTZU!?"

"We will be contacting you for further details on transportation and the settling -"

"You actually did it!?"

"The settling in of your new child. We are looking forward to working with you and wish you and your new family the best." Yamcha concluded. He laughed happily as Tien's tail thrashed wildly in his tank.

"You adopted him?!" Tien said, still in disbelief.

"Yes! I did!" Yamcha said gleefully. "He'll be arriving here in a few months and -"

He was cut off by Tien hugging him. To do so he had leapt out of his tank. As a result of this they both ended up lying on the patio floor soaking wet. Neither minded. Most of the party goers nearby were cheering but they didn't pay any attention to it. Yamcha was still in the throes of excited giggling and Tien had joined in.

"You seriously adopted him. You got him safe. He's okay." Tien said.

"And he's excited to hear the result, I'm sure. If you could get off me I can go get dry and make a video call to him. He's at a foster home right now." Yamcha said. Tien opted to go in for a kiss first. Yamcha gladly complied.

"I can't thank you enough." Tien whispered once they separated.

"You don't have to. I know how much he means to you." Yamcha said. "I really would like you to get off though. You're kinda heavy."

Waiting for their timezones to align properly took a bit of waiting. The first chance they had to call was a few minutes before they had a show scheduled. They both agreed that a short call was better than none. Cela lent them their laptop and brought it down to the pool so Tien could be included. After a minute or so the image flickered to life and revealed a smiling child sitting on a bed.

"Ten!" he exclaimed. "It's me! Chiaotzu!"

"I know! It's so good to see you." Tien said. He bore the softest expression Yamcha had ever seen on his face.

"Hey, Chiaotzu! Remember me?" Yamcha said. All the talks trying to get custody of Chiaotzu had forced him to brush up on his Japanese and he was glad for it.

"Yamcha! You're here too!" Chiaotzu said. He paused for a moment. "Does this mean you got all the grown up stuff finished?"

"I did! All those boring forms are filled out and done. You know what that means?" Yamcha said. He'd explained things a few times to Chiaotzu before over the phone.

"It means you get to adopt me! Right?" Chiaotzu said.

"That's right! You're gonna be coming over here in a few months and you'll get to stay with me." Yamcha said.

"You're coming home." Tien added.

"That means you're my new dad! And Ten too!" Chiaotzu realized. He giggled and happily bounced up and down. Yamcha laughed along with him.

"It does!" he said. "I promise we'll be the best dads we can."

"We'll take care of you and protect you." Tien said. Yamcha noticed he was getting choked up. Tien already had tears in his eyes but still smiled anyways. "No one will hurt you anymore."

"Don't cry Ten! You're gonna be my favorite dad!" Chiaotzu said. He looked at Yamcha and gave him a thumbs up. "And Yamcha will be my other favorite dad!"

"And you're gonna be our favorite kid! We'll see you soon, okay?" Yamcha said. "We have work soon but we promise to call you again later."

"Okay dad! And dad!" Chiaotzu said cheerfully. With a last couple of goodbyes and waves the call ended. Tien sighed and wiped some tears off his cheeks.

"You gonna be okay?" Yamcha asked.

"Yeah. I've never been better." Tien said with a smile. "How about you, Mr. Always wanted a family?"

"A little emotional but I'll recover." Yamcha said. "The thought of work will do that to you."

"I know what you mean." Tien said. "...There's going to be a lot of stuff for us to work out."

"Even more paperwork. Oh joy." Yamcha said sarcastically. "I know there's a lot ahead of us. For now let's just get this show done."

"Lead the way, land mutt."

"Only if you promise to follow, koi boy."


	10. Til death do us carp

Yamcha had planned on becoming a biologist.

Instead he became many things. A marine biologist. The boyfriend of a merman. The adoptive father of an outgoing ten year old boy. The list could go on.

It seemed the world just kept throwing progressively bigger things at him ever since he met Tien. Just a few months ago he'd finalized his move into an on property building at the Aquarium. It was bigger than his old apartment by a wide margin and was the closest he could come to living with Tien. Chiaotzu loved it. He had all the space he could want to run and play plus constant access to the whole aquarium. He'd been with Yamcha and Tien for nearly a year already and had become the focus of their lives.

"Can I hang out with Krillin today?" he asked one morning during breakfast.

"Of course you can. Just don't distract him, okay?" Yamcha said. Chiaotzu nodded eagerly and finished his cereal.

"He promised to let me help feed the fish." he said as he left his chair.

"Make sure he actually does his job then." Yamcha said with a laugh. Chiaotzu giggled and grabbed his backpack.

"I will. Bye dad! I'll come to the show later!" he said. He headed out the door and Yamcha watched him run off with a grin.

"Have fun!" he called after him. Chiaotzu waved and kept going. Yamcha picked up Puar as she tried to run out the open door and walked back inside. He had some time before his first shift started. Making a packed lunch for later would be a good idea.

Most of his days went the same way. Be a dad, be a hard worker, and be a good boyfriend. Besides his move and the arrival of Chiaotzu not too much else had changed. It was comforting. The last two years had been hectic enough to last him a lifetime. Now things had finally settled down. Of course it wouldn't last too long, given his record, but he savored it while he could. He did the shows, cleaned the tanks, and fed the animals as usual. He spent time with Tien and Chiaotzu.

"I'm glad things are they way they are now." he reflected during the end of one day. He sat on the rock in the middle of Tien's tank and watched the sunset turn the water orange.

"So am I. It's good to have a routine." Tien said as he joined him on the rock.

"Who knows how that will go when Chiaotzu starts school again." Yamcha said with a soft laugh.

"Whatever happens, we can handle it. Everything so far has worked out." Tien said.

"Here's hoping the future goes the same way then." Yamcha said.

"Speaking of the future..." Tien said. Yamcha looked over at him with a curious expression when he trailed off. Tien locked eyes with some far point on the horizon and even in the evening light Yamcha could tell he was blushing.

"What is it? I haven't seen you turn that red in years." Yamcha said.

"Three years, exactly. Since we met." Tien said. "So much has happened, and I..."

"C'mon koi boy. A good boyfriend always listens." Yamcha said.

"What about fiance?" Tien blurted out.

"... what?" Yamcha said quietly. He was fairly certain his brain had stopped functioning and needed to reboot. A mess of emotions was rising all at once.

"I mean... Mer don't have anything like human marriage but... I know it's something you want. I thought I would ask." Tien said. He tapped his tail anxiously against the rock. "If you don't want to it's fine I just... wanted to know if you'd want to... to marry me."

Before Tien could ramble any longer Yamcha collided with him in the strongest hug he'd ever given. The two slipped off the rock and into the pool. A billion thoughts must have been running through Yamcha's head but the most overwhelming one was "Yes". It was a few seconds before he even registered they had fallen into the water despite the steady flow of bubbles leaving his mouth. Luckily Tien was true to his word and saved him again. Yamcha's smile nearly broke the contact when lips touched his. After a much needed breath he swam up to the surface while keeping his hold on Tien. As soon as they were clear of the water Yamcha pulled him in for a proper kiss.

"If you think for even a moment that I would say no then I'm throwing you back into the ocean." Yamcha said once they parted.

"For once I'm glad to hear that." Tien said with a small laugh. "You'll have to teach me how all this wedding stuff works."

"With pleasure." Yamcha said. "At least you got the proposal right."

"I'm assuming most proposals don't end up with the couple underwater?" Tien said.

"There's been weirder. Besides, with you ending up wet is expected of any event." Yamcha said. They both shared a laugh and floated along in their embrace for a while.

"When do you want to tell everyone?" Tien asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Ideally? Right away." Yamcha said. "But with all things involving you I'm sure anything we said would get turned into a rumor somehow. Remember when Chiaotzu first arrived?"

"I think the headline "Little merboy walking on land – hybrid lovechild?" is my favorite." Tien said.

"It was a good one. So. What do we do about this?" Yamcha said.

"I'm not sure. You know how this human stuff works." Tien said.

"Right. If we don't want rumors and tabloids again..." Yamcha said. He smirked with enough sharkish feel to rival the actual fish itself. "How about we put on a show?

"That's the end of our Q and A for now everyone. How are you enjoying the presentation today?"

The crowd, filled with new faces along with regulars, cheered. Yamcha smiled widely. Things were going well and on schedule. Now he just needed to end things properly.

"As usual for the end of our afternoon show, Tien will retrieve a special gift for whoever answers today's West Bay trivia question correctly." he said. Tien was already swimming along the bottom of the tank and a few people were lined up. Yamcha pulled out his trivia page and got ready.

"... now that's odd." he said. Murmurs spread through the crowd at his pause. Tien surfaced near the edge of the tank and lifted up a small shell.

"This doesn't look like a trivia question." Yamcha continued. He could hear the audience gasp as Tien showed the people nearby what was in the shell. He swam over as Yamcha pretended to be confused.

"I think this is in Mer. Tien, can you read it?" Yamcha said. He knelt down and held up the page.

"It says Yamcha Zedaki, love of my life and best friend, will you marry me?" Tien said. He held up the shell and the sunlight reflected off the ring sitting in the middle of it. Yamcha played his part of the surprised boyfriend well. There were still a lot of genuine emotions being shown as he tearfully answered "Yes!" The crowd was applauding like mad through the initial post question hug to the ring being put on Yamcha's finger. There definitely wasn't going to be any rumors around this particular part of their lives.

"You two never fail to make a scene." Lazuli commented after most of the well wishers and guests had left. "I assume you'll want to hold your wedding here too?"

"If you'll let us." Yamcha said hopefully.

"I already let you live here." Lazuli pointed out. She smiled gently. "I'm sure it'll be great."

"Thanks Mrs. Stone." Tien said. Lazuli dismissed the notion with a wave.

"I owe you a lot. Just don't break anything." she said. She walked off and within seconds they could spot other staff members making their way over.

"Ready to take on whatever's next?" Tien asked. Yamcha smiled and leaned over to kiss him.

"As long as you're with me."


End file.
